David Weir

It’s no secret that the workplace is not always the healthiest environment for people. There tends to be a lot of sitting around at desks or in meetings; there’s often a lot of stress; opportunities to exercise can be rare; and rushed, unhealthy snacks and meals are often the norm.

SF-based Keas is focused on mitigating all that. It offers employee wellness programs to large companies (and in the future, smaller companies as well) that draw on social media, gamification, motivation theory and psychology.

“We are trying to do something that's never been pulled off -- to build a platform where it is easy for people to share what they've bought,” says Mine co-founder and CEO Pierre Legrain. “We are about creating a directory of ownership, of people and their recent purchasing history of items they want to share.”

At first glance, this may remind you of the ill-fated startup Blippy, which allowed people to see what their friends were purchasing with credit cards in real-time.

“So it turns out that almost nobody wants people to check out their purchases,” was the memorable way Alexia Tsotsis started off her Blippy obit in TechCrunch in May 2011.

When Starbucks introduced its reloadable debit card a few years back, Jason Gardner was impressed; so impressed he set out to build a card that could be used – not just in one store or chain – but at hundreds or thousands of venues.

The result is Marqeta, which aims to become “the most powerful piece of plastic on the planet – one that magically makes your dollar worth more,” according to Gardner, the startup's founder and CEO.

Say you've just landed at JFK to start your visit to New York, and now you’ve got to find your way into Manhattan. What’s the best, and/or cheapest way to get to the part of town you need to reach? Besides taxis, which will run you (with tip) the better part of three Jacksons, there are actually over 50 different options, from limos, to shuttles to buses.

But how can you find out about all of these services, evaluate them and choose the right one for your needs and budget?

Meet Mozio, which is a “point-to-point multi-modal travel search engine.”

Calling itself “the first on-demand rideshare community,”Sidecar emerged from four months of beta testing last week, having already facilitated 10,000 rides in and around San Francisco.

It's a free smartphone app (available in both iOS and Android) that connects you with nearby drivers when you need a ride. You can choose to make a donation to the driver for that ride if you wish; it’s voluntary.

“During testing, people told us that they love the convenience and the friendliness of Sidecar,” says CEO Sunil Paul. “The reception has been astounding.”